Life in SEA is not all about magic. There are beautiful landscapes with precious flora and fauna too. Please enter if you love magic and the nature. If you are particularly looking for magic alone, look elsewhere please for you shall be disappointed. All materials are for entertainment purposes only.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Mysterious Indochinese Miasma (瘴气之谜)

It is believed that miasma is a type of secretive poisonous
vapour exists in Southern part of Chinese and Indochinese thick forests with
beautiful sceneries, wide and deep hinterlands. When people enter into the
forest, they would feel that the atmosphere is very pleasing with winter warmth
and summer cool. Folks would unconsciously become enchanted and become carried
away; and then losing control of themselves.

According to a local Vietnamese legend, during Vietnamese
war against the French in the 50’s, there was once a 1,000 men French troop
lost in a piece of picturesque Vietnamese mountain range and no one returned
ever since. It was strange that there was no war at that area at that time… No
one knows what had happened to the 1,000 strong men. No one knows whether they
are dead or alive… Local Vietnamese said it was the work of miasma. The miasma
has devoured the whole troop and transformed them into local landscape and
misty fog…

The Chinese believe that miasma is actually poisonous
gaseous substance formed by decaying snakes, centipedes, toads and etc.
poisonous insect carcases. Once unwary folks entered into the jungle and this
poisonous gases entered into their bodies; they would feel cold, hot, sweating
and these people would die not long after that. In today’s terms, this is just
like malaria.

I supposed it would take a long passage to prove or disprove
the miasma phenomenon scientifically as it is suffice for a layman like me to
know the symptoms and related remedies.

There are many formulas available to local Indochinese folks
but the easiest formula is to consume some ipomoea root powder when one is
attached by miasma. First, a person need to collect some ipomoea roots, dry
them and then grind them to powder form.

When a person is attacked by miasma, he/she only needs to
mix half an ounce of ipomoea root powder with a bowl of white rice and eats
them all. The miasma syndrome shall subside the next morning.

The above formula was given to me by a Vietnamese who always
travel into deep Indochinese jungle. I posted here in the hope that if you too
would like venture into these uncharted Indochinese regions, please do prepare
yourself adequately.